I went to the local movie theater with a newer friend of mine, that also has seen the first season of Jujutsu Kaisen, and we watched the prequel movie JJK(short for Jujutsu Kaisen) 0. I had been counting the days until this movie was released to the west and was so happy that it was being shown so close to campus. I love this series and have read most of the manga that is out at the moment. I did go into this movie knowing exactly what was going to be in it, I read the 0 volume of the manga a couple of months ago, but it was so cool to see it in theaters on such a big screen. This was the first time I had seen an anime movie in theaters, and it didn’t disappoint. It was, however, a real hit to my bank account compared to watching it at home from streaming services.  

Although funny story, my friend and I had specific seats in the theater but there were other people sitting in them when we arrived. I’m not the most confrontational, so I suggested we just sit in another set of seats. That later backfired as 20 minutes into the movie the people that had those seats finally showed up, and we had to find separate seats away from each other for the rest of the movie. Funny time.  

(SPOILER ZONE) So, the movie was really faithful to the source material, making a geek like me very happy. This version that we watched was the dub (in English), but the voice acting was better than I was expecting and didn’t throw me out of the watching experience. And dang was the watching experience great. The movie was so colorful and the palette in certain scenes was amazing. The action. Don’t get me started on the action MAPPA (the studio that animated the movie and animates a ton of other great stuff) never disappoints. It was just toe to toe full of jaw-dropping fight sequences that brought the manga pages to life. The main theme of the movie, at least in my humble opinion, is that of love. Kinda cheesy, however, you see two very distinct ‘loves’ in the movie. That of Yuta Okkotsu and Rika Orimoto, and I know I’m leaping bear with me Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto. Just, this concept is so well done and shows up later in the anime as an underlying theme.  

If you have any time over summer break I suggest you watch JJK for the great animation. 😊 

10/10 

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My friends had a little watch party for this movie. I had seen a few trailers and thought it might be a little more childish (it’s a children’s movie Mckenna, of course, it will be) but I was pleasantly surprised. Both of my friends and I were crying by the end. It was so colorful and expressive. The characters were so cute and the design choice to make all of Meilin’s friends have distinct color schemes was such a good touch. All the characters in this movie are so well made? All the little pieces of world-building really fleshed out each character, even Tyler!  

SPOILER ZONE I do recommend that you watch the movie first before reading the rest of this review. It just came out this week on Disney plus, so you have been warned! I really liked the pacing of this movie, some of the other movies I’ve seen lately feel really long for no reason, but this had a good mix of climactic and toned-down moments. As well, I could relate to Meilin and her relationship with her mother. Disney has had a theme in these last few movies and I’m not complaining. I think one of the most gut retching moments that isn’t super played up is when Meilin first learns how to keep her Red Panda at bay, she thinks of the people she cares about most, but it’s not her parents, it’s her best friends. The little white lies she tells throughout the movie all compound starting from that one point in the story. It was very well executed, and this plot really kept me engaged the whole time. 

The fact that the whole thing that started the climax and tension was a concert for a boyband floored me. Like I said before, I could relate, and the fact that the girls are all obsessed with this boyband called 4-town took me back to when I was super into boybands (in 8th grade). Their parents wouldn’t let them go because of varying reasons, mostly saying its delinquent music, so they all hatch a plan to go to the concert. But the night of the concert is the same night as the red moon, the most important piece of the ritual to lock away Meilin’s Red Panda. All the symbolism and themes in this movie converge in the best way, I could write a whole paper on all the symbolism, theming, and allegories, but this is only a couple hundred-word review blog. The ending lesson of learning to adapt to and with the ‘bad’ parts of ourselves is accomplished with her understanding of where her parents come from and why they raised her as they did. I can’t stress this enough; this is a great movie and deserves your watch! 

10/10 

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So, while I was on spring break my family all went to see the new Batman movie. If you were to know anything about me, it’s that I have an uncanny knowledge of Batman and the history of the character. This was definitely a movie I was going to review. I had been a little hesitant because there have been so many different takes on Batman on the big screen, however, one of my friends really loves this movie and has seen it close to 9 times since its release. (Which was only about a week ago at the time of writing this). I’m a bit of a stickler on Batman movies in particular so I hope that you read on to hear what my opinions of ‘Battinson’ are! 

!SPOILER ZONE! Sorry but most of this review will be quite spoiler heavy. Overall, the movie was not bad, but not great. The aesthetic of the movie was good, and the world-building of Gotham was one of the best I’ve seen done by big-name movies. The grime and look of the city while Batman is just getting started is perfect to understand this version of Batman hasn’t been on the streets that long yet. Also, by far this is my favorite Bat-suit it gives me the feeling of the animated series from the early 2000s (also called The Batman), I’m just thankful it’s not so geometric like Bale’s Batman. But, other than the costumes and look of the movie it falls off for me. The plot was pretty lacking as dragged on at the same intensity the whole movie. Most of the acting felt like they were reading right from the script, it didn’t leave much room for actual acting. This made me a little disappointed because the cast is full of good actors! This movie just felt like it was bagging for a sequel, which is maybe why the story was the same intensity and that would be resolved in the next movie? This isn’t Dune though, so there isn’t a sequel to be a crutch for the story and plot lines. This movie just left me hanging and there are better Batman movies out there. I was excited when directors and producers said the plot was based on Batman: Year One by Frank Miller (This is a great read, by the way, most of Miller’s work is), but this a bit of a tease as there was very little in this movie that seems to be inspired by the comic.  

5/10 this might be my lowest-rated movie 🙁 

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Like most of the movies I’ve seen as of late, this was a request from my friend Kate. I probably watched this movie when it first came out but didn’t remember any of the plot. The fact that I knew all the words to one of the songs was a little scary though. I think it was on Tik Tok at some point… 

Disney movies from this time period were some of the best. Big hits like Lemonade Mouth, Let It Shine, Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure to name a few. Because it is a Disney movie some of the actors have been in other Disney films or shows, like Ross Lynch, Brady, who was in Austin & Ally when Teen Beach Movie came out. With the logistics out of the way, it’s review time. (SPOILER ZONE) So this movie is about two sophomores in high school, Brady and McKenzie, that want to live out an endless surfer summer together. This is until McKenzie’s Aunt comes to pick her up to take her to a private school for the last two years of high school. To save Brady’s heart McKenzie breaks up with him but get in an argument that leads McKenzie to surf on last time before leaving. However, she used a ‘special board’ that transports her and Brady into his favorite movie, Wet Side Story. This movie is set in 1962 and is a mixture of Romeo and Juliet with the cliques like in the movie Grease. The songs in this movie are cheesy, but the good kind of cheesy, there had to be a reason I knew the songs only after hearing them once. With the goal of getting out of the movie Brady and McKenzie are swept in by the musical numbers, and accidentally change the movie by getting the two leads to fall in love with them instead. So, with the new task of getting the movie back on track, they realize they are starting to become a part of the movie and have to quickly beat the villain of the movie, capitalism. Kidding, it’s just a resort Tycoon that wants to buy the local hangout, Big Momma’s, to build a beach getaway.  After being kidnapped by the villains the cast of the movie band together to rescue McKenzie and Brady, and the two leads end up falling for each other without the Brady and McKenzie putting in the work. Conflict solved, they both go back to the real world, and McKenzie tells her aunt she wants to stay for high school, happily ever after.  

It really is a classic Disney movie, and I’m glad I watched it again. 

8/10 

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